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October 2009
FREE STYLE: An Interview with Corbin Bleu

FREE STYLE: An Interview with Corbin Bleu
Bleu talks about his role in the film, life after 'HSM' and what people expect from him.

October 7, 2009

by Wilson Morales



With his 'High School Musical' days now over, Corbin Bleu has moved on to the next phase of his acting career. Most recently, his stint on CW's 'The Beautiful Life' came to an end when the show was canceled due to poor ratings. Hopefully, his film career will advance with his latest movie, 'Free Style,' coming out this week.

Bleu, as Cale Bryant, stars in an inspirational and uplifting story for the entire family about a young man's determination to win a coveted spot on the Grand National motocross racing team. With the support of his loving mother (Penelope Ann Miller), precocious little sister (Madison Pettis) and new girlfriend (Sandra Echeverria, Telemundo's 'Marina'), Cale proves against all odds that he has the heart, the willpower and the courage to never to give up on his dream.

In speaking with Blackfilm.com, the Brooklyn, NY, native talks about his role in the film, life after 'HSM' and what people expect from him.


How much are you doing Motocross now?

Corbin Bleu: As long as I'm not under contract for something at the time, I definitely push my limits and try to go out there and ride and do as much as I can. I've become obsessed with the sport. I go to all the races. I have a bike, a Kowasaki 250F, and I go out and ride all the time.


  Can you jump?

CB: Actually, yeah. I'm getting more into it. It takes awhile. I'm jumping now. I can at least make a single jump, which is a lot for me. It's been great. Thing about it is it's really family oriented. You go to these races, and the entire family is there and really supported. It's needed because it's such an expensive sport. Really, only the top five riders in the world make a sufficient paycheck. The story is amazing because my character's father left when he was a kid; he's caring for his mother and younger sister; he works two jobs just to put food on the table; and at the same time, he's trying to turn pro at this sport. It's hard for him. There's so many obstacles in his way. The fact that he actually gets it done and makes it there is pretty powerful because it's so rare.

Can you talk about transitioning from the 'High School Musical' to this kind of film?

CB: Yes. It's still a family film, but Cale's a little more complex than Chad. Chad's happy with his basketball. The major transition for this film for me was working behind the scenes. My production company is behind the film, and I had an opportunity to work with casting, locations. Every day we'd regroup and figure out how the next day was going to go. The battle between the business end and the creative side is also a challenge.


Did your experience with Disney help your career?

CB: Of course. I started working when I was 2, but 'High School Musical' was the first project that was huge. That skyrocketed to another level, and I was able to view it from a different perspective. The main thing about working with Disney was propelling it to a level that I never experienced before. At this point, there's just a lot more opportunities at hand.
Do you prefer to be viewed as a musician or an actor?

CB: I prefer to be viewed as an entertainer. I think an entertainer is a person who does it all. Gene Kelly didn't have to decide!
 

How much fun is it working with your dad in the film?

CB: Great. So awesome! This is the third time we've played father and son, so it's become this run-on joke. Every role that we've played with each other has always been very different. He's a deadbeat dad in this one. I'm supposed to look in his eyes and act like I haven't seen him in years. That was definitely a little strange. We're father and son, though, we're business partners, we're friends.


How would you describe your fans and how much personal obligation do you feel to be in direct contact with them?

CB: Your fans are the people who support you. In our industry that's what we thrive on. We thrive on the response. That's the whole theater thing. You're up on that stage and you get that automatic response from the audience, that's what you live for, that applause. Otherwise, why do you make the work if there's no one there to see it? Who are you making it for? You're making it to connect with people. We're very lucky to be able to have fans and people to connect to our work. I love having my fans, and I do what I can to reach out to them. I do have a Twitter account. For me, it's not necessarily to tell people when I'm going to take a piss (laughs). It's more to keep them updated on what's going on. Every once in a while, I get to have a specific connection with one single fan, have a conversation back and forth with them. I've also set up a thing called Sing Out, which is a phone account. It's so cool how they work a separate phone account and talk to fans and leave messages. When you get feedback to where they are in their heads and how they feel, you know you're talking to someone.



I prefer to be viewed as an entertainer. I think an entertainer is a person who does it all. Gene Kelly didn't have to decide!
 
How are they in terms of what they want to see you do now that you're in the post-'High School Musical' phase of your career?

CB: It's been mixed. For the most part, my real fans get it and they're along for the ride. They know I want to do it all. I want to have an array of characters and do my music as well. Then there are the skeptics who definitely know me in the light of 'High School Musical' and don't know if they can see me in anything different. That was what was wonderful about the show I did, 'The Beautiful Life.' It was obviously a very different character, much more mature, and the content was a lot more racy. A few people were shocked, but I'm 20 years old.
When did you get the call regarding the cancellation of 'The Beautiful Life?'

CB: The last night on the set! It was a surprising moment. I was lucky to have the last scene of the day, the last scene of the show actually, with Natalie. We finished our scene, I was packing up to go home and have a weekend and they all come out screaming, "It's been cancelled!" It was a wonderful experience, and I got to work with some great people, got a chance to show my audience that I can do something different, but I just got up and went, "I need to take off my makeup (laughs). I invest whatever I can to whatever project I'm working on at the time. I've always been raised to move on. You can't linger on that. Even auditioning. You go on an audition, then you forget about it. You let the road go where it's going to go.

You got to work with the production team. Did you work with the casting as well?

CB: I did. I was part of all the casting actually. Madison was almost an automatic. I'd met her a few times prior on the red carpet. Then looking for the girl, we auditioned a lot of different girls. The whole Mexican culture of the film wasn't originally in the script. Then Sandra walks in the room and originally she was too beautiful. She was dressed up, and when we called her for a callback, we told her to dress down. When she came in, we read and the chemistry was there. She had the accent, and that propelled the movie to a whole other level. Obviously we had the racial thing. We definitely wanted to cast my mother and father as an interracial couple. Then the whole other thing came in with her being Mexican and him being thrown into this thing with the fiesta. It's a very mixed world.


One of the things people will be surprised about are the layers of the character. There are a lot of things that have to do with struggling financially and divorce. Can you talk about what you drew on playing those emotional scenes?

CB: I've always gone back to friends in my life who have grown up with a single parent, with no parents, who have struggled financially, and I've been blessed my whole life. I have a very close and tight-knit family. We love each other very much. When I was younger, we struggled financially. We've been very blessed recently. We're not dealing with that now, thank God. You always pull from that, from the sympathetic, not necessarily life experiences. That's why everywhere you go as an actor, you're always watching and listening. You never know when you're going to have to experience that same thing in a role. It was definitely different and gave me an appreciation for what I have.


What's the next movie project?

CB: There's a couple my company's putting together right now. One horror film. Nothing set in stone, but there are a few films.

Would you consider rejoining the cast of 'High School Musical' for a reunion?

CB: I'm sure down the road. Not necessarily 'High School Musical' or anything, but just to be able to work with the actors again! We've all grown up together these last few years. It's a huge turning point in our lives, and we all have gone through it together. We mean a lot to each other.

 



 


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